Caged Birds and Guard Dogs
by The-Seven-Eeveelutions
Summary: The Angel Experiment states that Angel was kidnapped. But what if they only told us SOME of the story? Ari and Angel are back, but how can they be friends when the School has made them enemies? Sequel to Baby Birds and Wolf Pups. Read that first!
1. Chapter 1: Birdkidnapped!

Disclaimer: I don't own Max Ride and I'm more than happy to let James Patterson take credit for his own work. All I want is Book 8 in the series. Pretty please?

Chapter 1: Bird-kidnapped!

**Angel's POV**

The armored car I was in jolted as it ran over yet another pothole. It was about one in the morning and I still had about seven more hours to go. Seven more hours before I'm back in the place I prayed I'd never set foot in again so long as I lived. I was going back to the School.

After Jeb rescued me, it was like we were a family. The others taught me how to fly faster and longer and higher, and Jeb always kept us safe. We lived in peace, and after everything we'd been through, there was no greater gift. I could forget all about the terror that was the School and grow up normal. Well as normal as a six year old bird-kid with wings can grow up. But nothing lasts forever. One day we all came back from a three hour flight in the mountains to find Jeb missing. Max and Fang searched for days, but couldn't find him. He was gone.

That was about a year ago, nowadays Max was our leader just as she'd been when we were all back at the School. _Max. Where are you?_ I thought. _Why are you taking so long?_ There was no doubt in my mind that Max would come; she always came when we needed her. The doubt was if she would get here in time. The School can do a lot damage in a short time span. Case in point: me and the flock. We have _wings_ for crying out loud.

My throat was dry and cracked. I hadn't had anything to drink since breakfast yesterday. I thought about asking them if I could have some water, even just a sip would do, but I shook away the thought. It would probably just result in me getting hit. Again. Why me? Why do I have to go through this? I mean I understand that I'm the smallest and the easiest to capture, but why not take Max or Fang. They had guns; surely they could've captured any of the others. But they didn't, they captured me. They just wanted me. Why? With no answer in sight and only death's living equivalent ahead, I tried to get some sleep. It was all I would be able to do to prepare.

**Ari's POV**

I steered the van through another series of potholes. We were only two hours away from the School, two hours until the _real_ fun began. I glanced quickly at Angel in the rearview mirror. She'd gone to sleep a couple of hours ago, and based on her facial expression she was having a nightmare. Too bad whatever her subconscious was cooking up won't be a tenth as scary as what's to come. _I'm gonna make sure of that,_ I silently reminded myself.

Sparing another glance at her, I frowned. Even in her sleep she looked so innocent, so _angelic_. But she wasn't. She said she was my friend, but she betrayed me and abandoned me. I'll never forget that. That when I needed her most she flew off to save herself and probably never thought twice about me after that.

But what really hurt was that look in her face, that fear. I said and did things I didn't mean that day, but was her faith in me so minuscule that she would see me as the enemy even after all she said about being my friend? About staying with me even if her family didn't want me? My furry mitts gripped the steering wheel tighter. Lies, every word she spoke was a lie! I pressed down harder on the gas pedal. She was never my friend; she was just using me to free herself! She had no intention of taking me with her! I was swerving all over the road, blinded by my rage. Cars honked loudly at me but I heard nothing, even the sirens of a police car fell on deaf ears.

Wait, Police? Calming down, I pulled over to side of the road. I reminded myself that I would have all the time in the world to make her pay for her trespasses _after_ I arrived at the School.

"All right son, License and Registration." The Policeman said as he pulled up to me.

"Sorry, Officer but," I turned so that the light from the sirens illuminated my furry scarred part wolf face and grinned sadistically, "I'm not your son."

Completely deserting his car, the man screamed and ran off. Haha, I love that reaction. Satisfied for the time, I put the car back in drive and took off, albeit at a slower pace.

**Angel's POV**

I was shaken awake by a whitecoat, standing just outside the car. It was only then I registered small things like the sun, that creepy disinfectant smell, _where I was_! I twisted and turned in my captor's hold trying to break free, but before I could he jabbed a needle in my arm. A needle that made me very…sleepy.

I felt my heartbeat increase drastically. I could hear voices and beeps and other noises from the outside. I felt confused, wasn't I asleep or unconscious or whatever? How come I could still hear what was happening? I tried to open my eyes but they wouldn't budge. I couldn't move my arms or legs either. What was happening? What did they do to me? On a whim I tried to read their minds, to see if their thoughts could tell me anything or not.

_Its heartbeat is too stable… _

…_and if I increase the level of Carbon and…_

_The neurotransmitters…in its brain ... than in humans…_

…_electrical pulses… _

I could barely get anything, I understood nothing, and whatever they're doing was making nearly impossible to actual get information in complete sentences. So to recap, I'm stuck in place I'd rather _die_ than go to, they've made it impossible for me to move, see, or talk, and they're messing up my body in ways I can't even imagine. I'm probably gonna come out of this half jellyfish or something.

**Please R&R. I promised a sequel, so here it is. Love it? Hate it? I'm not Angel so you have to review.**


	2. Chapter 2: Best Frenemies

Author's Note: Hi Kodiwolfdog321, I didn't really think anyone would look me up. Glad you like it. Here's hoping for more reviews.

Disclaimer: I don't own Max Ride. But no one has to know that, do they?

Chapter 2: Best Frenemies

**Angel's POV**

I was hunkered down in a medium-sized dog crate with my arm pressed against my chest. It was broken. I also had deep scratches all over me and I was rapidly losing blood. They had bound my wings to my back before they forced me to do battle with the Erasers. A pack of them—maybe six, seven—had flung themselves at me and proceeded to nearly disembowel me as they had so many others.

The only reason I survived was because one of the whitecoats called them off. I think they were testing how well I could handle myself in a fight. Idiots! I was six! I was never supposed to have to fights with wolf/human hybrids with a temper, strength, and need for blood that would make the hulk the shiver in fear.

I was afraid. I was deathly afraid. But not for reasons you might think. I wasn't afraid because I'd almost been _killed_ just minutes ago. I'd come close to death before. I wasn't afraid because I was trapped in a place that made illegal animal testing facilities look humane. I knew Max would come, and I would survive until she did. No, what really scared me was the…boy…that broke my arm and that look he gave me. He liked me to be in pain. He wanted it.

No matter what he did to me, I couldn't think of him as a monster, as an Eraser. Not after he introduced to me ideas which I'd never heard of before and would have never found on my own: Hope. Trust. Happiness (or as close to it as you could get here.) And above all, friendship. We were gonna escape together, we were gonna be free. But like many things in this world, it didn't happen the way it was supposed to. The way we wanted it to. And now he hates me, now he wants me dead.

**Ari's POV**

"Why'd you interfere?" I shouted angrily. "I almost had her!" The scientist in front of me was shaking like a leaf. It was funny, before I'd realized my true power Barken used to terrify me. I normally found pleasure in listening to him stutter and watching him tremble, but now I wasn't amused.

"Ari l-l-listen w-we had our or-orders." He jumped as I slammed my hand/paw around a small table and smashed it to the ground right next to him.

"I don't care about orders, just revenge! And if you get in my way again feel free to volunteer yourself as a replacement!"

I stormed down the hall, when suddenly my enhanced hearing picked up the sound of faint crying. Probably one of the experiments crying their eyes out and moaning about how their lives stink. Like they have it bad. They're born, they live a little while, they die. Most of them aren't even intelligent enough to understand, let alone remember. Out of sheer curiosity I decided to investigate.

"Angel, figures it'd be a wimp like you." I sneered.

She stared at me in shock, her blue eyes still wet with tears. "Ari." She whispered. Then louder, "Ari how could you do this? We were friends, how could you betray me this way?"

My eyes widened in rage. "Me betray you? Who ditched who?"

"I never meant to leave. You gave me no choice! You tried to kill me!"

"Tell me, did you ever even think about me, just once, while you were off living with _my _dad?" Her mouth was open a little in the form of a gasp. She had no answer. I scoffed. "I didn't think so. Maybe the next time you accuse someone of not giving you friendship, you should think about how much of that friendship you actually deserve, traitor."

"Ari, please it doesn't have to be this way."

"You're right. It's going to be way worse. Rest assured Angel the next time we meet, you _will_ die. Not even the scientists can keep you safe anymore."

**Angel's POV**

_Right, because they've done such a good job at keeping me safe so far, _I thought bitterly as I watched him leave. The next time I saw Ari, I'd have to kill him. Or let him kill me. No, I wouldn't give in so easily. Max wouldn't play by their rules and neither will I. These guys have done something to Ari, that has to be it. Ok, what's different between the last time I saw him and now? But before I had time to figure out what they could've done to my old friend, the whitecoats came and got me for some more testing. Hooray.

Two hours later I heard that horrible bell clang _again._ For the umpteenth time since this began I was pushed into a maze the whitecoats designed as my 'test'. I think the word they were really looking for was torture. I was starving, most of my injuries including my arm hadn't even begun to heal, I was tired and my muscles felt the way they would if someone had put me on monkey bars and pulled as hard as they could for twelve hours straight. And still I was forced to run.

This wasn't the type of maze that you'd see in a Science Room with a lab rat running through it. It shared some similarities, like having to find the exit as fast as you can and putting the exit in a different place each time. But it was the differences that were…interesting. If I slowed down, red hot wires would burn my feet or I would receive an electric pulse to my head.

Finally, after running into who knows how many wrong turns, I stumbled through the exit, my eyes trying hard as they could to hold back tears. I was reward with a sip of water and a five minute rest while they designed the next maze. I sighed deeply and tried to look like I was relaxing, when in reality I was using every ounce of concentration and energy I had to find the designs for the next maze. The liquid they'd given me two days ago was strong and still hadn't quite worn off yet, but it was getting weaker with every passing second and I knew that if I just kept trying…

Yes! I was in. I could read every nasty little thought those creeps were thinking. One wanted to increase the number of hot wires on floor, so I always had to run on them, whether I was slowing down or not. Another wanted to put an Eraser loose in the maze with me, to really get my adrenaline levels soaring. One was designing the next maze.

I could see the outline of the maze. It was in my head because it was in the whitecoat's head. I saw it all. Every trap, dead end, all the paths that led nowhere, everything. Someone gave me another sip of water, then the bell clanged and the process repeated itself. Except this time I didn't get shocked once. This time there were no hot wires scorching my already burnt feet. This time I already knew the path, and so raced without hesitation. This time I got one up on the whitecoats.

I caught bits and pieces of their conversations. Most were amazed that I had the level of intelligence to think and plan. Some were angry they were bested by an experiment and wanted to inject me with some more of that liquid to 'even the odds'. They all wanted to take me apart. Literally. Dissect my brain, preserve my organs, extract my DNA…this is what they wanted to do to me, what they were going to do to me if the flock didn't get here soon. But none of that mattered to me just then. Because when I was reading everyone's minds, I found out what those freaks did to Ari. And now, I'm gonna keep my promise. I'm gonna save him if it's the last thing I do. And it just may as well be.

**Please R&R. Yes I borrowed and modified a scene from The Angel Experiment, but if you'll remember this story was supposed to take place during the first book, so it's ok. I hope. If you read this sentence, please review. Your thoughts and opinions matter to me. Thanks and have a great day!**


	3. Chapter 3: What Happened to Ari?

Author's Note: Well here it is guys, my last chapter. For any of you that are interested, I will be uploading the first chapter of the final story in the Ari/Angel series sometime in September. So for now let's see what we can do.

Disclaimer: Yesterday I finally got/read Nevermore. Because that made my week, I'm only going to say that I do not own the Maximum Ride books. And Nevermore was a great end to an even greater series.

Chapter 3: What Happened to Ari?

**Angel's POV**

No matter how many times I went over it in my head I just couldn't believe it. I couldn't believe the things they'd told Ari after I left. Or what they did to him. While I was being reunited with my big brother and everyone else, the whitecoats took it upon themselves to perform one final test on Ari. A test he'd be reminded of each time he looked in the mirror.

They forced him into letting them fuse each human strand of DNA with a piece of the wolf DNA. They made him a permanent freak. The "enhanced" genetic product gave him more strength than he would ever have had as a normal person, but at a horrible price. The price of freedom. He became completely subservient to the people he once detested with all his heart, soul, and body.

They took away every memory he ever had of happiness and love and all the good things in the world and replaced them with bad memories. Like he didn't have enough of those already. They twisted and distorted his memory to make it look like no one cared about him, and that his dad left him because he was an unworthy son. They highlighted the fact I left him behind after I promised him we'd leave together. They put new horrible memories into his head, and pushed out the old good ones. No wonder he's so mean now. He never even had a chance.

**Ari's POV**

"What are we waiting for?! Why can't I just kill her and be done with it?!"

"Ari you don't want to kill her. We both know the revenge you seek won't be so simple. Besides, we need her to get to Max."

"I don't care about Max! Ok breaking her neck would be fun, but you swore I could make Angel pay. It's been days and all she has to show for it is bruises and blood."

"And you don't think that's enough?"

"No!"

"Ari have you ever stopped to consider maybe Angel's not guilty of all you've accused her of?"

"Of course she is! She has to be. She abandoned me!"

"She also gave you friendship, which you in turn traded for power and respect. Think, boy! She's not your enemy, she never has been. The School's brainwashed you into believing that the one person you always thought would be there for you betrayed you. And in doing so they control you. Fight it Ari! Remember!"

"I…There is nothing to remember! She is the enemy! Mine…and yours as well. You'd do well to remember that, lest your superiors catch wind and start questioning where your allegiance lies!"

"Is that a threat?"

"For the moment, but get in my way and it'll be a promise."

**Normal POV**

Jeb shook his head as he watched Ari leave. He had his orders—to keep an eye on Max and the others and make sure they don't become too…independent. But Ari was his son. What they'd done to him made Jeb want to scrape their skin from their bodies and drill holes in the back of their heads to remove their eyeballs. But he couldn't blow the mission. He could, however, try and return to Ari what was wrongfully taken from him. He could use Max to create unrest among the scientific community. He could be puppet master, but couldn't reveal that he held the strings.

His musings were interrupted by movement on screen. "Well, it's about time you got here, Maximum Ride. Let's see how far you've truly progressed." He pressed the intercom button. "Ari, I have a job for you."

**Please R&R. I'd like to take this time to think all of my reviewers. So that basically means you, kodiwolf321. I know this was probably just a big waste of your time, but thanks for nosing through it anyway. See you round. **


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